Online Information Sites: Film News Briefs

The amount and quality of information online about the Hollywood movie business nowadays is remarkable. Writers from anywhere in the world can track the progress of a spec script all the way from its submission to acquisition through development and into production.

Some sites have been around for years, while new ones continue to emerge, so I figured it would be helpful to GITS readers to provide an overview this week of some of the most prominent information sites currently available online.

Today we feature Film News Briefs:

FilmNewsBriefs was started in 2007 as a daily executive memo for a movie mogul detailing the day’s most important entertainment, media and technology news. Since the newsletter’s debut, the subscriber list has grown exponentially and continues to be a ‘must read’ for influential industry insiders from film studios, top agencies, management firms and filmmakers.

FilmNewsBriefs.com re-launched in September 2009 with new re-design and functionality, becoming the destination for cutting edge entertainment, media and technology news.

I asked FNB’s CEO and Founder Jessica Kantor some questions:

If I asked you to describe FilmNewsBriefs as a high-concept, what would that description be?

FilmNewsBriefs is a daily newsletter in the form of an executive memo briefing the day’s entertainment news.

How long has FilmNewsBriefs been online and what was the impetus in creating the site?

It started in 2007 as an executive memo for the head of a mini-major studio. He read it every morning pretty religiously, so of course all the executives in the company needed to read it too. Not long, the agents, filmmakers and producers we worked will all asked to be on the mailing list. I left the studio a year later and created a very simple blog. I basically posted the newsletter and used a free services called feedburner to send the email every morning at 9 AM eastern time. About a year later I brought on Neil Turitz who is now the Editor-in-Chief and two other partners that helped turn FilmNewsBriefs.com into a destination site. The newsletter still goes out every morning and now the article exist in a format that can be socially shared, either by email, twitter, facebook, digg, etc…

What information and services does FilmNewsBriefs offer that distinguish it from other online script and entertainment business tracking sites?

FNB aggregates all entertainment new sources, but we also cover high tech as it relates to the entertainment industry. My background was in Development and production for a major and a mini-major studio and was made to service development executives. Personally I moved to digital media and online content and find that there are a lot of talented filmmakers with content online. Whether it be blogs, short films, and even features, there’s just so much content out there and we try to make note of talent that isn’t as visible. Finally, we also pay close attention to technology and innovation that’s augmenting the film industry, whether it be development, production or marketing.

I guess the major aspects that make us different is that we don’t cover any gossip and we don’t do movie reviews. We strongly feel that neither of those two things help filmmaking in any way. There are already so many sites that give reviews, who needs another one. Our editorial is about what’s going on in the industry and our feature stories/ interviews are about innovation in the industry.

People may subscribe to your free email service. What does that service provide?

The email newsletter is really how the information on the site is meant to be consumed. The newsletter is in the format of an executive memo and goes out Monday through Friday at 9 AM ET. It’s very simply design, and is easily consumed on electronic devices. The idea is to help executives and filmmakers stay on top of what’s happening in the industry in the most efficient way possible.

Also, once a month we do a special email with four filmmakers to watch which is only for subscribers. It’s been very well received by the industry. Many of the filmmakers have told me that they’ve been called into meetings by major studios, agents and managers.

Your website has several different content areas. Let’s go through them one by one. First is All Stories. What type of content should a reader expect to find there?

All stories is simply a listing of everything on the site in the order of the date posted.

Then there is a Production page? Does that just cover movies and TV shows going into production or do you also track script / property acquisitions and pre-production news?

The production covers new projects announced and project updates. This is usually when a script is acquired, or a major property is optioned. The project updates covers major milestones, like talent attachments, production start dates, etc…

There is an Acquisitions/Festivals page. What is the range of festivals you cover: The big ones like Cannes, Toronto, and Sundance or do you include smaller more specialized ones like Telluride?

Acquisitions is when a finished film has gotten distribution. We cover all forms of exhibition but in this section its usually theatrical, Video on Demand, or straight to DVD. For the festivals we cover all the majors, and when the smaller festivals do something significant. We definitely cover SXSW and pay attention to as much as we can.

What type of news may a reader expect to find on the Biz page?

The Biz section includes stories as it relates to larger industry business. When companies merge, labor laws are disputed, lawsuits, etc… It’s really the business of entertainment. Lately there have been stories about Lionsgate and Icahn as well as Miramax selling it’s library.

How about the Tech page?

The tech page covers multi-platform content. That’s content that lives online, or is non-traditional. More and more talented filmmakers are creating for the ultra-small screen and consumers are getting more and more comfortable paying for it. And more now than ever advertisers are willing to sponsor content. There’s a huge market for great content and by covering it we at FNB hope, more talent filmmakers will participate.

We also do a daily Website To Watch. You’ll find everything from a great content website, fun storytelling, or new social networking tools. There’s a vast world online and by showcasing one a day, it’s less overwhelming to partake.

Finally there is an Opinions page where you do FNB editorials as well as interviews with names in the entertainment industry. Who are some of the notables you’ve interviewed and what subject areas are you particularly interested in covering?

The opinions page is split between editorial and innovator interviews. Neil writes all the editorial and has great insight into the film industry. He write about everything from the state of the independent market, to network television, to Oscar picks.

I conduct all the innovator interviews and have sat with producers like Ted Hope, Emily Gerson Saines; studio executives like Hannah Minghella, Rachael Horovitz; filmmakers like Sally Potter, Laurent Touil-Tartour and technoligsits like Danae Ringelmann of Indiegogo.com and the creators of the Dynamo Player to monetize content online. I love covering people who take risks and create in a way that will change how people tell stories in the future. Laurent created a series called Urban Wolf which uses traditional storytelling for an incredibly forward thinking web series which will also work in the form of a feature film. I also love covering technologists who give filmmakers the tools to create, monetize and build audiences.

Apart from Variety and Hollywood Reporter, what are some of the other sources you track for information you post at FNB?

Well, we try and pull from as many sites as possible. Now that Michael Fleming is at Deadline Hollywood, and other notables are at Indiewire, and screen international, we really have to keep our eyes open. Even sites like Moviefone are starting to get great stories. But even more exciting we’re getting stories directly from publicists and our readership. We’re even starting to get some exclusive stories.

Any new features you have plans for in FilmNewsBrief’s future you can share with us?

We’re always look to keep the site up to date with the most current information. At the moment we’re really focusing on growing our readership and staying true to the sites mission.

In your view, why should a screenwriter subscribe to FilmNewsBriefs?

It’s important to know what’s going on in the film industry, what kind of stories are selling and whose currently buying. We give all of that pertinent information in a FREE and easy way to consume.

Finally we all know how slow the current spec script market is. As an informed observer of that part of the industry, is there anything you can say to GITS readers to talk them off the ledge and give them some hope about the future re spec scripts? Or are we officially in sick, dying, or dead territory?

Well, the spec market really slowed during and right after the writers strike and then the economy tanked. It took a while to see sales again but in the last six months the tracking boards are starting to pick up again. There still aren’t too many sales but the industry is really changing. There’s a new generation of executives and their are so many new outlets to look for stories. Before, there weren’t as many options, it was development, specs, books and the random article. Now the spec market is competing against compelling twitter feeds, tumblr blogs and all the other content online. Great executives will read everything they can and a spec, just like everything else is a way to get an exec familiar with your work.

The other thing that is changing is the kind of movie studios are making. Mostly now, they are making BIG movies. Before there had more diversified slates, but now there’s a greater divide between studio films and independents. There just aren’t as many mid-budget movies anymore which were the specs I remember reading. I think if the spec market were to pick up, they’d have to be high concept films.

BIO

Jessica Kantor started her career in film and TV working at Sony Pictures Entertainment, at the ABC TV show “Six Degrees,” and The Weinstein Company. While at The Weinstein Company, Jessica transitioned into emerging technologies, where she researched and recommended new platforms to promote, distribute, and interact with professional content.

Shortly after Jessica launched the widely read daily newsletter and website FilmNewsBriefs. With a readership of top Hollywood executives, producers, entertainment lawyers, and influential filmmakers, FilmNewsBriefs reports on traditional entertainment news, new media, interviews industry innovators and spotlights emerging filmmakers.

Tomorrow’s featured tracking site: It’s On The Grid.

EDITORIAL NOTE: The series of posts I’m running this week is not intended as a recommendation for any specific site, but rather to provide information to GITS readers about various information resources that are currently available online.